Obamacare Kills Private Insurance

Jun 7, 2011

RUSH: By the way, again, this is another one of these things where I’m right and I don’t like being right. “Once provisions of the Affordable Care Act [Obamacare] start to kick in during 2014, at least three of every 10 employers will probably stop offering health coverage, a survey released Monday shows. While only 7 percent of employees will be forced to switch to subsidized-exchange programs [government], at least 30 percent of the 1,300 companies surveyed say they will ‘definitely or probably’ stop offering employer-sponsored coverage, according to the study published in McKinsey Quarterly.

“The survey of 1,300 employers says those who are keenly aware of the health-reform measure probably are more likely to consider an alternative to employer-sponsored plans, with 50% to 60% in this group expected to make a change. It also found that for some, it makes more sense to switch.” Yeah, they’re gonna need a waiver, but they’re not gonna get waivers in 2014. The waivers end in 2012. There aren’t gonna be any waivers after the 2012 election. The purpose of Obamacare is to create just this. And we warned you, told you, this is what the purpose of Obamacare is, is to close down employer provided health insurance. It’s over starting in 2014. When Obamacare begins to be fully implemented, you are no longer going to have your health insurance through your job. You will have to be dependent on the government for health care and health insurance, and that’s been the plan all along: Put such strain on the private sector that employers simply cannot afford it.

Now, up ’til now there hasn’t been any way for the employer to off-load it. They just had to manage it somehow, either demand copays, reduce salaries, any number of ways to avoid the skyrocketing employment costs of providing health care as a benefit. But now with Obamacare out there there’s a place to off-load this stuff, get rid of it, by design. This number 30% I think is actually low. I think it’s gonna be many more than 30% of companies. At the first chance they get, folks, they’re gonna off-load the health insurance benefit, just get rid of it. It’s a nightmare. It is a human resource nightmare. It’s an accounting nightmare. It’s a pain, and they don’t care where it goes as long as they don’t have to deal with it, and there’s Obamacare with these government exchanges.

Now, the numbers compare — follow me on this — these numbers compare to a Congressional Budget Office estimate that only about 7% of employees currently covered by employer sponsored plans will have to switch to subsidized exchange policies in 2014. So we’re dealing here with what’s reported as 30% versus 7%. Now, the numbers compare to a Congressional Budget Office estimate that only about 7% of employees currently covered by employer sponsored plans will have to switch to subsidized government exchange policies in 2014. Now, this is a telling point in that McKinsey study because they’re saying both, 30 versus 7%.

Regardless, the CBO, the Congressional Budget Office lied to us. Thirty percent of employers will drop health care. CBO said it would be seven. McKinsey, who has surveyed the business, says it’s gonna be 30, and in truth, don’t doubt me, it’s gonna be more than 30. They can’t wait to off-load it. And they’re looking around at all these other firms getting waivers.

So in two or three short years if this thing is not repealed, if it’s not stripped bare, if it’s not defunded somehow, your health insurance through your employer is something for days gone by. You gotta take a trip to a government exchange. You gotta go to the health care equivalent of the DMV, by design. This has been the purpose of Obamacare, one of the many purposes of Obamacare from the outset.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Now, one thing on this health care business, too, that I gotta remind you of McKinsey, (a management consultancy company) has done their survey: 30% of American businesses will drop employer provided health insurance as a benefit when Obamacare kicks in. That number, I think 30% is low; it’s gonna be higher than that, because once one company, major size, large company starts, and it’s gonna cause a domino effect, and a lot of ’em are gonna follow suit, ’cause they can’t wait to off-load these things. They’re unmanageable. They’re just out of control. Here’s thing for you to keep in mind: At least 30% of you will lose your health care provided from your employer.

That means you gotta go to the government, these “exchanges” to get your health insurance. Keep in mind a relevant figure here. According to a news story that we had the week before last, you right now are only paying 12 cents of every dollar that you spend on health care — and that’s one reason it costs so much because when it’s only costing you 12 cents… I know a lot of you think that it’s costing you more than you can afford, and that’s probably true — and even at that, you’re only spending 12 cents personally of every dollar that’s being spent. That cannot hold up. You are gonna be spending — once you go to these government exchanges, when they have total control over who gets insured and who doesn’t. You know, all these various, “As the secretary shall determine,” how often does that phrase occur in the health care plan? By the time you wind your way through the maze of these government exchanges, you’re gonna be paying a lot more for your health care than you’re paying now, 12 cents, if this thing is not repealed, and if it isn’t defunded.

END TRANSCRIPT

*Note: Links to content outside RushLimbaugh.com usually become inactive over time.